"All parties, Ian Paisley's DUP included, support theprinciple of policing and justice being devolved to theincoming executive when the time is right," he said.

"The question was getting that time-frame in view and, onthe other hand, getting absolute clarity that Sinn Feinwere prepared to take what was a historic step for them, aseismic step."

The DUP's Jeffrey Donaldson also welcomed Mr Adams'sstatement and added that "words needed to be matched bydeeds".

"We will look at that very carefully to see what itsimplications are in terms of republicans calling on peoplein their communities to support the police, to co-operatewith the police, to co-operate with the courts, and, if weget that in word, then it needs to be matched by deed," hesaid.

"It's the quality of all of that that will determine howquickly we can move."

"They have no support outside their own ranks for theircurrent policy," he said.

"The key to all of this is, what decision is the ard fheisbeing asked to endorse? Is it a qualified decision withpower to be handed to the leadership to handle?

"It's a first step. Will it be clear-cut or will there befurther obfuscation?"

Alliance Party leader David Ford said: "There is no pointin holding the ard comhairle unless Gerry Adams is preparedto recommend to it that a special ard fheis is held toensure that Sinn Fein moves forward and accepts its fullresponsibility in the area of justice and policing.

"Some of us have been waiting for this since 1998. It'slong overdue but nonetheless welcome."

The British and Irish governments have named 7 March as thedate for fresh assembly elections with a new executiveexpected to be up and running by 26 March.

Northern Secretary Peter Hain has announced that electionsto the assembly will be held on 7 March.

Talks aimed at restoring the assembly and its executivehave been taking place since the St Andrews Agreementnegotiations in November.

A leading SDLP Assemblyman last night lambasted Governmentplans to extend the future role of MI5 in the province.

Alex Attwood, MLA has voiced a range of "fundamental issuesand questions" in a letter written to the Director of MI5,Eliza Manningham Buller, as to the organisation's futurerole in Northern Ireland.

"The SDLP opposes a role for MI5 in Northern Ireland, butthe British Government still seem determined to give MI5 agreater presence and wider role than has been the case,"Attwood said.

"My questions are about what this greater presence willlook like. The letter to the head of MI5 is to prise openthis secret world, get the facts and reveal how damagingthe proposal to give MI5 primacy for national securityactually is."

Questions outlined in the letter include the number of MI5employees in Northern Ireland over the last five years andthe mechanisms in place to check employees' backgrounds.

The letter also questioned how MI5 anticipated splittingits resources in Northern Ireland between internationalthreat and the possible threat from loyalist and republicangroupings.

"These issues are only indicative of the big, unansweredquestions around the role of MI5. These issues fuel theproper anxieties and fears around British Governmentintentions," Mr Attwood added.

As Sinn F‚in president Gerry Adams launched an attempt topersuade his party to change its policy towards the PoliceService of Northern Ireland (PSNI), Minister for ForeignAffairs Demot Ahern pointed to the findings of a recentsurvey in the province which showed 79 per cent ofCatholics had confidence in the police.

"We have been very much picking up that people want them tomove on policing," the minister said.

"Even in the Republic, you get people here giving out aboutthe Garda¡. So you will never get 100 per cent.

"But, by and large, I think people accept the PSNI is areformed police service and probably the most oversightedpolice service and will continue to be in the future.

"I think people accept now that they have to move on andthey have to try and put the past behind them as much aspossible for the betterment of the younger people comingon."

Mr Ahern said it was essential Sinn F‚in and the Rev IanPaisley's Democratic Unionists continued to move togetherto advance the political process in Northern Ireland in thecoming months.

But with the Irish and British governments keeping onstandby an alternative plan should their bid to revivepower sharing by March fail, Mr Ahern moved to dispel anyunionist fears that the Government would prefer Plan B.

"Some people, to some extent, might see it preferable thatthere is no devolved government in place in the North, thatfrom an Government point of view we would have a betterconnection and a better communication with the Britishgovernment dealing over the heads, in effect, of people oncross-border issues," he said.

"But the Taoiseach has been clear that he would far ratherdeal with people who were elected politicians from bothcommunities, dealing with them on a one-to-one basis."

Mr Ahern insisted if the two governments had to turn toPlan B, it should not spook unionists.

"I do not think unionists should have anything to fear fromPlan B," he said.

Sept 1999: The Patten Commission (drawn up by Chris Patten,left) recommends wholesale reform of policing in the north- a complete change of the organisation, oath, badges andsymbols. The report also demanded 50:50 recruitment----

Nov 2001: The RUC becomes the PSNI but Sinn Fein refuses tosupport the renaming of the police service and otherreforms saying they have not gone far enough. The party didnot take up its seats on the new Policing Board----

Sept 2002: Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said he believed therehad been a shift in Sinn Fein's stance on the NorthernIreland policing issue.

Mr Ahern described as "positive" the party's suggestionthat it might call a meeting of its ruling council todiscuss joining the Policing Board if the Britishgovernment tabled sufficient legislative changes.

The party also rejected a call from Policing Board chairmanDes Rea to take their places on the board.

Gerry Kelly said: "Sinn Fein's position remains the same inthat we will not join the policing boards until there iseffective legislation which allows for proper and effectivescrutiny of the PSNI".----

November 2002: Gerry Adams said policing proposalsfollowing Weston Park were "not enough" to bringrepublicans onto the Policing Board. The Weston Parkcommitments, he said, would not deliver Patten in full.

"Short of the full implementation of Patten, Sinn Fein willnot endorse the current policing arrangements. In short,the Weston Park position is not enough," he said.----

February 2003: Gerry Kelly, above, said the issue ofpolicing was crucial and "is at the core" of Sinn Fein'snegotiations with the British and Irish governments----

November 2004: Sinn Fein national chairman MitchellMcLaughlin said his party was ready to call a quicklyconvened special ard fheis on the policing issue "if theneed arises".

Also that month, Gerry Adams met with the chief constablein what was described as part of a "realisation" by SinnFein that "compromise is necessary" in power-sharing. Itwas the first time in 82 years that a northern republicanleader met the head of the police in the north----

June 2005: Sinn Fein said the envisaged "new beginning" topolicing remained "unfinished business". Gerry Kelly saidthe transfer of government powers on policing and justice,and the handling of intelligence were outstanding issues----

July 2006: Gerry Adams disclosed that policing spokesmanGerry Kelly met police officers to ensure violent scenes atan Orange Order parade in north Belfast the previous yearwere not repeated. Mr Adams later said his party would signup to policing structures "when the terms are right" andwould endeavour to bring that about "in the shortestpossible time"----

November 2006: Sinn Fein signed up to the Republic's 22 newpolicing committees, which operate like district policingpartnerships in the north.

Mr Adams also insisted that his party had already "come online" with policing, days before it was set to become thekey issue at the St Andrews talks.

He said the republican movement's problem lay with"political policing" and that Sinn Fein "believes in lawand order"----

December 2006: Gerry Kelly said his party's support for thepolice could not be taken for granted. Gerry Adams led aparty delegation for face-to-face talks with Hugh Orde atStormont.

The party said other issues it was seeking to have resolvedwere a date for the transfer of policing and justice andthe departmental model into which power will betransferred.

Mr Adams said he would be prepared to call a meeting of hisparty's ard chomhairle when agreement had been reached onthese issues for the purpose of convening a special ardfheis within the timeframe set out at St Andrews.

A Belfast-born member of the Irish army lodged a complaintwith the Dublin government in May 1976 after sustainedharassment at the hands of British troops in west Belfast.

The young man had enlisted in January 1976 and had beenstationed at the Curragh Camp. On May 24 he sent astatement to the then taoiseach, Liam Cosgrave, detailinghis humiliation.

He said that on May 14 he had returned to his home inAndersonstown.

"When I got off the taxi at the Busy Bee I was stopped bysoldiers who made me turn out my pockets and count my moneywhich they then took from me," he said.

"They saw my Irish army passes. As I stood there in thestreet in full view of the public I had to take off myshoes and jacket.

"Then I was questioned:

- Did you ever shoot at us?

- No.

- Who caught the SAS over the border?

- I don't know.

- Do they teach you in the Irish army to hate Britishsoldiers?

- No."

A week later the soldier was arrested by a British footpatrol and taken to Fort Monagh where he was forced tostand against a wall while holding a large paving stoneabove his head.

He told Mr Cosgrave: "After a while I threw it down andrefused. Then they brought out a chair and asked me to dopress-ups kneeling on the chair.

"After a few of these I refused to do any more. Then I wasspread-eagled against the wall and they asked me questionsabout the Irish army."

The soldier was then taken to Springfield Road RUC Stationwhere he was interrogated by a detective and accused of"organising an attempt on the life of an RUC man on theGlen Road". He was freed after 31 hours.

In releasing its official documents under the 30-year rule,the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland has made moreof the province's history available to researchers. GrahamBardgett reviews the year of 1976

The second heaviest year for casualties in the Troubles,1976, saw 307 killed - 220 of them civilians.

The IRA carried out the carnage of Kingsmills, there werethe UVF murders in Co Armagh, and there was theassassination of the British Ambassador to Ireland inDublin, Christopher Ewart Biggs.

Of the 307 dead, 13 were regular soldiers and 16 in theUDR, together with 24 officers in the RUC. Republicangroups lost 17 members, while loyalists lost 13. Republicanactivity resulted in 161 of the deaths, loyalists 127, theArmy 14 and the RUC two.

In January, six members of two Catholic families werekilled by the UVF in Co Armagh and 10 Protestant workerswere shot dead by the IRA at Kingsmills, sparking asecurity crisis resulting in the SAS being deployed andextra troops flown in.

A month later, in February, republican prisoner Frank Staggdied in Wakefield Jail, in England, after a 62-day hungerstrike, and the following month those convicted ofparamilitary offences were deemed no longer eligible forspecial category status.

A message from Frank Stagg was read to a demonstration onthe Falls Road on February 5, a week before his death.

At the rally Sinn Fein vice-president Maire Drumm said:"Frank Stagg's death will be revenged as all our martyrs'deaths have been by the soldiers of Oglaigh na hEireann. Ifthey send Frank Stagg home in a coffin I would expect thefighting men of Crossmaglen would send the SAS home inboxes. If Frank Stagg lives or dies the fight goes on.England is still the hangman of the world."

Maire Drumm was subsequently murdered by loyalist gunmenwhile a patient at the Mater Hospital.

After a brief recall of the Convention lasting only days,March witnessed its dissolution amid rowdy scenes at itsfinal meeting.

July 1976 saw the IRA murder in Dublin of the BritishAmbassador to Ireland, Christopher Ewart-Biggs, and throughthe summer months, the UUP was criticised by otherunionists for holding talks with the SDLP.

August was the month that the Peace People emergedfollowing the deaths of the three Maguire children duringan incident in west Belfast.

They died when a car driven by an IRA man who had been shotby soldiers careered into them.

The movement attracted tens of thousands of supporters atpeace rallies.

That summer, Lord Faulkner announced his retirement frompolitical life. Roy Mason replaced Merlyn Rees as NorthernIreland Secretary of State in September and the first IRAman sent to the Maze after the ending of special categorystatus refused to wear prison uniform.

In November, Peace People leaders Mairead Corrigan andBetty Williams were awarded the Nobel Prize for their workin trying to end the violence that was to continue foralmost three decades to come.

That autumn, Kenneth Newman took over as Chief Constable ofthe RUC, with Jack Hermon as Assistant Chief Constable.There was systematic interrogation of terrorist suspects atCastlereagh and security policy dominated the agenda withpolice primacy over the Army coming to the fore.

The year closed, in December, with the Fair Employment Actbeing passed making it an offence to discriminate inemployment on religious or political grounds. There werealso strong words from the new Secretary of State RoyMason, urging local politicians not to let devolution slipfrom their grasp.

The hunger strike and death of IRA prisoner Frank Stagg, anative of Co Mayo, in a British prison is highlighted inthe files.

Stagg, on his 35th day on hunger strike, was demanding twoconcessions - that he would not be re-turned to solitaryconfinement and that he would not have to do prison work.

Pressure on Liam Cosgrave's government mounted with atorrent of letters and telegrams from the public and countycouncils as well as 700 employees of the Tarbert ESB powerstation in Co Kerry, accusing the government of "a completelack of interest".

The workers warned that Stagg's death would "almostcertainly lead to more deaths".

When he died on February 12 1976 the prospect of an IRAfuneral dominated the thinking of the Irish government. Thefollowing day the minister for justice, Patrick Cooney,noted that "gardai on the route of the proposed military-style funeral have been alerted".

"Every effort will be made to en-sure that there will be nofiring of shots over the coffin," he said.

However, it was not seen as feasible to arrest people inparamilitary uniform.

A Dail deputy conveyed to the government the fears ofpeople in Ballina at an IRA funeral.

The government faced a difficult decision after news thatsome members of Stagg's family had agreed to a paramilitaryfuneral from Dublin to Ballina.

On February 19 1976 the government announced that it wasdiverting the plane carrying the remains from Dublin toShannon airport "in the interests of the security of thestate" and the protection of life.

The government said it was aware of "the intention ofsubversives to exploit the situation for their own ends"and so the funeral would follow a route mapped out bygardai to Hollymount, Co Mayo.

The IRA assassination of the British ambassador to Irelandon July 21 1976 rocked the Irish government.

Files released by the Nat-ional Archives in Dublin to-dayshow how news of the IRA landmine which killed ChristopherEwart-Biggs and a 26-year-old secretary, Judith Cooke, andbadly wounded the head of the NIO, Brian Cubbon, wasrelayed to the then taoiseach, Liam Cos-grave, at 10am thatday.

The diplomat had only been in the post two weeks.

Later that morning a full meeting of the cabinet de-cidedto offer a IRœ20,000 reward for information leading to thekillers' arrest.

"This atrocity fills all decent Irish people with a senseof shame," Mr Cosgrave de-clared in a statement.

There are several drafts of a message to be sent to QueenElizabeth II by the then president, Cearbhall O Dalaigh,expressing his shock and conveying the sympathy of theIrish people.

"I assure your majesty of our deep sense of outrage at thisheinous crime against both our peoples," he said.

A similar message was sent to Mr Ewart-Biggs's widow and MrCosgrave commiserated with Miss Cooke's parents at "thisdastardly assassination of a young and promising life".

The government decided to fly flags at half mast untilafter the funeral. It was the view of officials that thegovernment should offer the family a state funeral from anIrish church prior to the return of the re-mains toBritain.

"There is much to recommend the removal of the remains froma church and there is a strong need to have an orderly anddignified public expression of sympathy and outrage and anovernight lying-in-state of the catafalque in, say, StPatrick's Cathedral, might help to achieve this," the filesread.

"All this would have the effect of explaining andespecially bring home to British television viewers thatthe state here and the general public should not beconfused with the perpetrators of the outrage."

However, on July 22 the embassy informed the governmentthat Mrs Ewart-Biggs had expressed her wish for a privateremoval.

A note on the file, dated July 23 1976, records that thebomb which killed the ambassador weighed 200 lbs and hadbeen placed in a culvert near the embassy gates.

It adds cryptically: "Culvert bombs are south Armaghspecialities."

After some discussion about protocol it was agreed that thethen minister for foreign affairs would be present atBalldonnell aerodrome for the removal of the remains. Theywere borne to the aeroplane by a guard of honour from theIrish Air Corps.

On July 22 the Queen replied to the president'scondolences, saying the assassination had "greatly shockedand grieved her".

"I share your sense of outrage at the terrible andsenseless act of violence," she said.

The taoiseach received a huge amount of correspondence fromIrish people condemning the murder.

The Provisional IRA remained the primary threat to securityin Northern Ireland in 1976 but was riven by internalleadership problems.

This was the verdict of a secret British securityassessment on paramilitary organisations considered by aStormont working party on law and order in Feb-ruary 1976.

The memo noted that during 1975 two important developmentstook place. Firstly the Provisionals' safe haven in theRepublic became less safe due to more determined measuresby the Irish government and the loss of popular supportafter blunders such as the Herrema kidnapping.

Secondly in Belfast and Derry the support given to the IRAby sections of the minority community in the aftermath ofthe Civil Rights disturbances of 1968/69 had beenwithdrawn. The Pro-visionals no longer had the emotive cardof detention to play.

The memo went on: "In this changed situation the Provision-als have considerable leadership problems.

"Some are arguing for the end of the so-called ceasefirepolicy and a new all-out campaign before the movement losesdirection completely; others argue for a wait-and-seepolicy until a more favourable climate emerges.

"Meanwhile the ceasefire policy, which allows for violenceas long as it is called retaliation, enables them toaccommodate these conflicting views within the increasinglyunconvincing appearance of a coherent policy."

The memo said that if this policy changed it would bepossible for the Provisionals in Belfast and Derry toundertake a considerably higher level of activity thanduring 1975 although "perhaps at the cost of furtheralienation of the minority community".

They might not be able to sustain it over a prolongedperiod but might reckon that such a campaign would bringabout a "Protestant backlash" or stronger security measureswhich would allow them to "once again pose as defenders ofthe Catholics".

According to the memo the situation in border areas,especially south Armagh, was different.

"These include some areas of solid support for therepublican cause," it read.

"It is ideal bandit country. It is clear that theProvisionals in this area straddling the border areoperating autonomously, remaining in touch with theProvisional leadership but probably not re-ceiving directauthorisation for specific actions from Dublin."

The British government considered creating an independentNorthern Ireland in the 1970s, according to a documentreleased by the Irish authorities.

The dramatic claim has emerged from a series of previouslysecret files revealing that in 1976 both governments fearedloyalists would attempt to make a Unilateral Declaration ofIndependence (UDI), sparking a bloodbath.

And while a memo written by the then British prime ministerHarold Wilson records his fears of "apocalyptic" violence,the Republic's government claims there was evidence thatLondon favoured independence as a long-term solution to theTroubles.

The document, written by an official from the Department ofForeign Affairs, claims loyalist paramilitaries whodiscussed the option of a UDI, feared Protestants in thewest of Northern Ireland would be "annihilated" but thatthey were prepared to allow this to happen.

"There is considerable evidence that the discussion ofindependence as the ultimate solution for Northern Irelandis being pursued quite actively at the moment, particularlyin paramilitary circles," the document reads.

"There is also some evidence that the British willencourage this independence debate and would be quite happyto see it as the ultimate solution to the Northern Irelandproblem."

The document covers an uncertain period for NorthernIreland politics following the collapse of the old Stormontregime and the failure of Sunningdale.

Unionists were divided over the way forward and those whodiscussed independence appear divided between calls for anegotiated independence programme or a more radicalunilateral declaration.

The Foreign Affairs official writes that the pictureremains confused and says there has been no debate aboutthe economic consequences of independence.

"Nevertheless there is still a dangerous adherence among-stmany groups to the UDI formula and it is known that the UDAheld a discussion on this aspect of independence in mid-June," he writes.

"Apparently it was made clear at that meeting that if UDImeant the annihilation of the Protestant population in thewest of the province, this was the price that they wereprepared to pay.

"There should... be no illusion that the discussion of theindependence issue will necessarily take a benign ratherthan a malign path."

The official cites a conversation with Ulster Unionist RevMartin Smyth who, he said, floated the idea of independenceunder a unionist-controlled government.

A letter attached to the file shows that on September 151976, a copy was sent to Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave.

The decision of the British government to proscribe theUlster Volunteer Force in 1975 is highlighted in theconfidential files.

The action followed a wave of UVF bombings and shootings onOctober 2 1975 in which 12 people died.

The next day the then secretary of state, Merlin Rees, helda meeting with the British general officer commanding, RUCchief constable Sir Jamie Flanagan and senior officials inStormont Castle. The meeting considered the previous day'sviolence, for which the UVF was thought to be largelyresponsible.

After much discussion Mr Rees decided on proscription. Itwas acc-epted that the direct security advantages would beslight since convictions for membership were virtuallyimpossible without a confession.

However, Mr Rees felt that the continued legal existence ofthe UVF was sufficiency offensive to the public to warrantproscription. Moreover, a ban would inhibit fundraising andthe holding of meetings.

After the general officer commanding and chief constableconsidered how to act against UVF members, it was agreedthat the organisation should be proscribed from midnight onOctober 3 1975.

Hundreds of denim-clad rockers will flock to the UlsterHall tonight to pay homage to one of Ireland's greatestmusicians ? the late Rory Gallagher.

A special tribute has been organised to coincide with theunveiling of a memorial plaque at the venue by the rocklegend's brother and manager Donal.

Always decked out in a denim jacket, checked shirt and hisbattered 1961 Fender Stratocaster guitar, Gallagherarguably became known as the man who spearheaded andinfluenced the entire Irish rock movement.

At 15 he joined the Fontana showband which later became TheImpact, a six-piece R'n'B outfit, with whom Rory headed toEurope for the first time.

In 1966, still only 18, Rory formed Taste with bassist EricKitteringham and drummer Norman Damery which became aregular attraction at Belfast's famous Maritime Club,before moving permanently to London.

By then the line up had changed and the trio - Rory,Richard McCracken on bass and John Wilson on drums - wenton to record two studio albums, Taste and On The Boards, in1969 and toured extensively before playing their last gigin Belfast on New Year's Eve in 1970.

Gallagher then went on to fulfil an extremely successfulsolo career and collaborated with his childhood influencessuch as Muddy Waters, Joe O'Donnell, Albert Collins, Box ofFrogs, The Fureys, The Dubliners, Phil Coulter and ChrisBarber.

He even recorded with The Rolling Stones in 1975 as theirfirst choice replacement for Mick Taylor but Gallagherdecided to go his own way.

While touring Holland in 1995, the rocker became ill andhad a liver transplant in April but died in a Londonhospital on June 14. He was just 47 years old.

Tonight's special tribute at the Ulster Hall, organised byBelfast City Council, was a venue close to Gallagher'sheart.

"Rory had a special love for Belfast, where he made hisfirst real breakthrough playing with Taste in the late1960s," said Ulster Hall manager Pat Falls.

"He remained loyal to his Belfast fans right through thedarkest days of the '70s and '80s, returning every year forbarnstorming performances at a time when many other bignames stayed away.

"Since his untimely death, we often have been asked by fansto erect some form of memorial to him. This plaque, andthis tribute night, is a great way of us showing ourrespect to one of the greatest Irish performers of his - orany - generation."

More than 600 tickets have already been sold for the packedevent which features performances by The Pat McManus Band(featuring Pat McManus, formerly of Mama's Boys) and theworld's top Rory Gallagher tribute act, Sinnerboy.

There also will be a screening of Rory's legendary 1984Ulster Hall concert as well as acoustic performances and anexhibition of Rory Gallagher memorabilia.

LONDON - Irish authorities were aware of three separatedeath threats against President John F. Kennedy when hevisited Ireland in June 1963, five months before hisassassination in Dallas, according to government papersreleased in Dublin on Friday.

Two threats came in anonymous telephone messages to thepolice saying Kennedy would be killed during the three-dayvisit June 26-29. A third was received by the news desk ata major newspaper group, Ireland's Department of Justicesaid in declassified documents.

While the police assumed the threats were hoaxes, they tookextra security precautions, deploying nearly half thecountry's police force on Kennedy's route from the Dublinairport. The president's visit was seen in Ireland ashistoric, in part because of Kennedy's own Irish Catholicroots and the fact that he was the first Irish CatholicAmerican to be elected president of the United States.

In an unusual security measure for a country with anunarmed police force, some officers carried rifles,submachine guns and pistols, while others rode ahead usingbinoculars to scan rooftops for snipers. U.S. SecretService personnel guarding Kennedy were permitted to carrysidearms despite Irish laws at the time forbidding foreignsecurity agents to be armed while in the country, thedocuments stated.

The threats against Kennedy included a warning that asniper with a rifle would take up position on a rooftopoverlooking the president's route from the Dublin airport.Another said a bomb would be planted on an airplane atShannon Airport as Kennedy prepared to leave. A third,telephoned to Independent Newspapers, said that Kennedy'slife would be in danger at the Dublin airport.